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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 23, 2026

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

Published on: July 16, 2015

Threat interferes with response inhibition.

Kaisa M Hartikainen¹, Anna R Siiskonen, Keith H Ogawa

¹Department of Neurosciences and Rehabilitation, Tampere University Hospital & Behavioral Neurology Research Unit, Pirkanmaa Hospital District, PL 2000, 33520 Tampere, Finland. kaisa.hartikainen@uta.fi

|April 13, 2012

Summary

Threatening stimuli, like spiders, impair executive functions, specifically response inhibition. This suggests emotional threats compete for cognitive resources, impacting our ability to control behavior.

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Last Updated: May 23, 2026

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Irrelevant Stimuli and Action Control: Analyzing the Influence of Ignored Stimuli via the Distractor-Response Binding Paradigm

Published on: May 14, 2014

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience
Emotion Research

Background:

Emotional stimuli, particularly threats, capture attention and can influence behavior.
Previous research suggests emotional distractors slow responses due to attentional competition or avoidance behaviors.
The interplay between emotion and executive functions, especially in threat contexts, remains underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how threat-related stimuli interact with executive functions.
To determine if observed effects align with a resource competition model or avoidance/freezing behaviors.
To examine the impact of threat distractors on response inhibition and reaction time.

Main Methods:

A Go-NoGo visual discrimination reaction time task was administered to 21 healthy young adults.
Participants completed the task with both threat-related (spiders) and neutral distractors.
Executive functions, including response inhibition, were assessed through performance metrics.

Main Results:

Threat-related distractors did not affect reaction time or error rates in Go trials.
A significant increase in NoGo error rate (commission errors) was observed with threat distractors compared to neutral ones (P < 0.05).
This indicates temporary impairment of response inhibition due to threat stimuli.

Conclusions:

Threat-related distractors temporarily compromise response inhibition, supporting a resource competition model.
The findings do not support avoidance/freezing motor behaviors as the primary explanation.
Evaluating threat significance and inhibiting emotional reactivity consume executive resources, potentially impairing other executive functions like response inhibition.